All I want for Christmas
by Kedi
Summary: 'Tis the season of presents, food, and good company… But above all else, 'tis the season of love. (Written for the 2014 Red Cricket Holiday Bash)


My second contribution to the 2014 Red Cricket Holiday Bash! Not one of the prompts this time, but I hope y'all like it just the same. Happy new year, fellow Red Cricketeers! :D

**Summary:** 'Tis the season of presents, food, and good company… But above all else, 'tis the season of love.

**Characters:** Archie Hopper, Ruby Lucas, Pongo, mentions of Granny and a few other faves.

.o.O.o.O.o.

"Thank you for letting me wrap the presents here, Archie. You're a lifesaver!"

Archie just smiled in reply and handed Ruby a cup of hot chocolate which she accepted with a brilliant smile - and after a sip, a hum of appreciation which bordered on a moan. Archie hurriedly turned back to fill his own cup, hoping she hadn't seen the colour rise in his cheeks in response to the sound.

He focused intently on the sweet, chocolaty liquid.

"I swear, Granny is worse than a child," Ruby continued, oblivious to his inner struggle. "It's downright impossible to hide her Christmas present. I mean, cursed me thought she was a bloodhound before the curse broke, but this is just ridiculous!"

When he turned back around and saw her face she looked just as exasperated as she sounded and Archie had to take a sip of his beverage to stop himself from laughing. He was only partially successful, though, blatantly clear by the way she rolled her eyes at him - but she couldn't keep a smile from her face either.

"I think it's partly because we didn't celebrate Christmas back home, you know? So not only is the cursed part of her excited about Christmas, but her other part is curious as well."

"I can see that, yeah," he agreed, sitting down across from her, sipping his beverage as he watched her work. Ruby scissored her fingers in a wordless request and after a short search Archie fished the shears out from under a stack of colourful bows and handed them over. "The winter solstice was the closest thing to Christmas we had back home, but that was never really about gift giving."

"Nah, that was more about stuffing ourselves with food!"

Archie chuckled in agreement. He too had always enjoyed the winter solstice feast - especially the many small cookies which abounded during the more public part of the celebrations. The cookies were freely offered by generous old matrons who didn't see the thief but rather the hungry little kid, and Jiminy had always thought they tasted absolutely heavenly - probably in part because he hadn't been forced to steal them. He had treasured the few moments he had been able to pretend he was a normal, good kid.

"And of course dancing around the bonfire all night..."

Archie smiled at Ruby's cheeky addendum but it felt a little strained. His celebrations as an adult had not been much better than the celebrations as a child; he had not danced around the bonfire even when he was human and able to do so, he had always been too busy lighting the pockets of those who had had too much to drink.

But imagining Red dancing around the bonfire, hair flowing and smile radiant, cheeks rosy from the cold and the exercise… Yes, he's much rather think about that than his own 'celebrations'.

"- too, don't you think?"

He shook himself out of his musings and gave his guest an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, Ruby, I got lost in thought there for a minute. What did you say?"

"I said that Christmas is nice, too. I think I like it just as much. No dancing around an open fire, true, but lots of food, presents, and good company…"

She trailed off and smiled almost shyly at him and Archie sternly told himself that he was reading too much into things. He was just projecting his own feelings.

"Yeah, Christmas is nice," he agreed lamely. "So, erm, what's the plan this year? Lots of Christmas parties?"

A little frown graced her lovely features but was gone before he could contemplate it too closely. She shrugged and fiddled with the ribbon on the present in front of her, adjusting it just so, then adjusting it back again.

"Well, there will be the big Christmas party at the Bed and Breakfast with the Charmings and the dwarfs and - and you're coming too, right?" She glanced quickly at him before going back to adjusting the ribbon. "I mean, Marco and little Pinocchio will be there, too, and - and Pongo is also welcome of course."

Was that a blush?

Archie had actually accepted Granny's invitation earlier that very day. The matron had intercepted him when he arrived at the office that morning, and though she had hid behind a free cup of coffee ("A little holiday present to show how much Granny's Diner appreciates your patronage, doctor Hopper!") it hadn't taken her long to cut to the chase and get a promise of attendance out of him. Archie would probably have accepted the invitation in any case, but the fact that Granny had so obviously been waiting for him - considering the coffee had been stone cold - had made it very easy to say yes. Thinking about it even now Archie felt more than a little touched.

But Ruby had avoided her grandmother all day to make it harder for the older woman to get a hold of her present, so of course Ruby wouldn't know about that.

"I'll be there," he promised.

"Oh, great!" Her smile was brilliant and it felt strange - but good - to be the cause of it. "It'll be fun, trust me! And as you know, Granny's a great cook!"

He nodded in agreement and it was easy to return to her happy smile. "It will be a marvellous feast, of that I'm sure. I'm looking forward to it."

And he realised he did. But not just because of the food.

.o.O.o.

Where _was_ he?!

Ruby pulled the curtains aside to peek out at the front steps for what felt like the hundredth time that evening. The party was well underway and everyone but Archie had arrived. It was standing buffet so it wasn't as if they were waiting with dinner for him to arrive, but "fashionably late" had come and passed.

She peeked into the growing darkness again, the nervousness she had been nursing all day long ago turned into worry.

What if something had happened to him?

It wasn't like him to not show up when he had promised he would… And it wasn't at all like him to just forget, or not let people know when he would be running late, or...

Great, now it was beginning to snow, too!

What if he had fallen on his way over and was lying somewhere unconscious? What if he had slipped on a patch of ice and broken his leg and was lying in a ditch, freezing as the snow slowly covered -

"Right, that does it!"

Hurrying upstairs she changed into jeans and the sweater Granny had knitted for her for Christmas, donned her best winter boots and warmest outerwear and after scribbling a hasty note to Granny explaining that she had "gone out for a sec for some air" she snuck out the front door.

The snow fell silently and slowly around her, blanketing Storybrooke in powdery white, but Ruby didn't notice the idyllic and peaceful vista as she walked as fast as she could whilst still keeping her balance on the icy pavement. More and more terrible scenarios flashed before her inner eye, and by the time she finally turned the corner of his street and saw his house she had worked herself into a worried frenzy...

Which quickly turned to anger as she saw the warm, inviting light shining from within. His crappy old car was parked outside and it was still ticking in that weird way it did when it cooled down, signalling that he had used the car very recently.

Furious Ruby didn't even bother with the doorbell, instead using her fist against the heavy wooden door.

"Ruby! What a nice surpri-"

"What the HELL, Archie!" She didn't even let him finish. He looked fine! He was obviously not in distress! He had scared her senseless for _nothing!_ "Would it _kill_ you to let us know you're not lying in a ditch somewhere freezing to death?!"

His smile fell in the face of the unexpected outburst. "What?"

"I've been worried _sick,_ you idiot! Why didn't you -"

A loud thud from within followed by a pathetic whimper interrupted her and Archie's eyes widened; telling her to "hold that thought!" he immediately disappeared back inside, leaving the still fuming Ruby in the open doorway. She stomped inside and slammed the door behind her, kicked off her boots and followed Archie into the living room; ready and _more_ than willing to continue her angry tirade.

But her ire cooled a little as she saw Archie kneeling on the floor, trying to steer a staggering Pongo back into the doggie bed.

"There, there Pongo," he cooed, struggling to get the clearly wobbly dog to lie down. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise! Just lay back down, boy, don't worry…"

"What happened to him?"

Archie finally managed to get Pongo to lie down and he shook his head with a strained smile as he sat down on the floor next to the fidgeting dog to keep him from getting up again.

"He got his head stuck in the fence chasing squirrels. He got a nasty scratch on his neck…"

Ruby gasped as Archie gently turned Pongo's head so she could see the fresh bandage.

"Required a couple of stitches. We've just gotten back from the vet. He'll be right as rain in a few days, but he's -" Archie just barely dodged a slobbery attempt at a doggie kiss. "He's a little loopy from the anaesthesia. He won't let me get out of his sight without trying to follow me." He patted Pongo's back and the dog let out a pathetic little whimper as he settled his head on his master's thigh. "I'm not going anywhere, Pongo, don't worry."

"Still it would've been nice if you let us know you would be late, Archie," Ruby pointed out, still feeling unsettled by the terrible scenarios she had imagined on the way over. "Or that you wouldn't come at all."

"But I did!" He looked up at her with genuine confusion. "I left two messages on your answering machine! One that I would be late, because at first I thought I would still be able to drop by, but when it became clear that I couldn't leave Pongo alone I left another to apologise for having to cancel on such short notice!"

Ruby's stomach dropped. Apparently Archie didn't know the answering machine at the Bed and Breakfast was notorious for eating messages. Dammit, she had told Granny again and again that they needed a new one!

"You… you didn't get either of them, did you?"

The guilty regretful look on Archie's face made Ruby feel terrible. It wasn't as if _he_ was to blame for their stupid answering machine's eating habits, after all… And here she had been chewing him out when he had done nothing wrong...

"Oh Ruby, I'm really sorry. Had I known you didn't get the messages - I-I never meant to worry you, I'm sorry."

"Call me on my cell phone next time, okay? Here," she held out her hand to him palm up, waving her fingers impatiently. "Gimme your phone, I'll program my number into it right now so I'm absolutely sure you have it."

"I… I don't have a cell phone."

"What?" Ruby put both hands on her hips and gave him a look, but couldn't quite stop the incredulous smile from spreading as colour rose in the psychiatrist's cheeks. "Time has started moving again, you know. The clock is working and everything."

"Oh ha, ha. I don't need a cell phone, I have perfectly fine regular phones at the office and here at home," he said, and somehow managed to sound both defiant and sheepish as he mumbled something about 'newfangled gadgets'.

"Sounding a little codgy there, Archibald."

"Just acting my age, I guess."

They shared a smile at that and with an exaggerated sigh Ruby closed the distance between them and plopped down vis-à-vis him beside the doggie bed. Pongo didn't lift his head from Archie's lap but the weak wag of his tail became a little more enthusiastic as Ruby started rubbing his tummy.

"I'm sorry I made you worry, Ruby."

"That's all right, Archie. You didn't do it on purpose. And you had a good reason to skip the party."

"Yeah," Archie agreed, but there was a note of sadness in his voice that made Ruby look up. "I was really looking forward to it, though. But I couldn't in good conscience leave Pongo alone in this state."

"Of course you couldn't," she agreed. "He'd stagger out into the hallway trying to follow you and end up waiting for you by the locked door. He'd be uncomfortable and cold and absolutely miserable until you came back."

Archie nodded without a word and continued gently stroking Pongo's head. She could tell he was doing the exact same thing she had been doing on the way over: running through unpleasant scenarios.

But as she placed her hand over his, the worried frown eased into a surprised look and his hand stopped as he met her eyes. Pongo didn't seem to mind that they stopped the petting. The Dalmatian was looking up at them through heavy-lidded eyes and he seemed, in fact, very satisfied with the whole situation.

Ruby wanted to tell Archie everything. Wanted to explain just why she had worried so, why she had been so excited about him coming to the Christmas party. She wanted to tell him about the soul searching she had done lately, and the pep talk Emma had given her the other day about not waiting because you never knew if the chance would be taken from you. None of them had any guarantees, and Archie had already come back from the "dead" once...

She wanted to tell him about the present under the tree back at the Bed and Breakfast, the one wrapped in red and green, the one from her to him.

She wanted to ask him if he would be interested in going on a date with her because life was too short and she really, really liked him and always had, but only now had found the courage to do anything about it.

Or at least she had thought she had found the courage.

It was nowhere to be found now, and the moment stretched out until Ruby thought she might suffocate and with a strained smile she jerked her hand back, kicking herself viciously as she looked away, hoping he didn't see her blinking away frustrated tears.

She should leave. Her absence had probably been noticed by now, Granny would be worried…

"Ruby?"

She hastily wiped a stray tear away and got to her feet, trying to look casual as she moved over to the Christmas tree, pretending to study the ornaments. She heard him shift behind her, but Pongo's whimper of protest apparently made him reconsider following her. Sending the canine silent thanks Ruby continued her perusal of the tree and smiled despite herself as she found a familiar figure.

Lifting a finger to gently stroke a green cheek she wondered if the little Disney cricket was placed into Archie Hopper's Christmas things by the curse as a mean joke or by some loved one with a dry sense of humour.

"Pinocchio gave it to me," Archie said from his spot by Pongo's bed, correctly guessing which bauble had caught her attention. "He and Henry watched the movie a while back and for some reason Pinoke was absolutely intrigued by my namesake." Archie chuckled and Ruby finally turned, unable to resist the smile she knew would be on his face. "Apparently he's been practicing his whistling at all hours, much to Marco's dismay. And he's been asking me to sing ever since!"

Ruby felt heat rise in her cheeks; just the thought of that soft, rusty yet velvety voice singing… Turning back to the tree she tried to calm the sudden flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

She looked up at the pale blue crystal star at the top of the tree and wondered if she dared to wish on it.

.o.O.o.

Archie gave Pongo a last gentle scratch and rose as quietly as he could to avoid waking the _finally_ snoring patient.

Ruby startled when he placed a hand on her shoulder and jumped around to face him. He hadn't realised she had been lost in thought and hadn't heard him tiptoeing across the living room, but the automatic apology died on his lips as he saw the surprised hope in her wide eyes.

The sound of the snoring dog faded into the distance. It felt like the world was shrinking until only the two of them were left. His hand moved slowly from her shoulder down her arm, and when it reached her hand she linked their fingers together before he could let go.

Not that he wanted to let go.

"All I want…" She cleared her throat, but when she continued her voice still shook slightly. "All I want for Christmas is you."

Her hand trembled in his.

He reached out and placed his other hand on her waist, desperately wishing to pull her closer but still too afraid. Afraid that he was dreaming. Afraid that he _wasn't_ dreaming.

But then she grabbed the front of his sweater vest and pulled him down, kissing him desperately, and Archie realised that they had both been afraid.

He kissed her back and the desperation slowly ebbed away.

When at long last they broke the kiss they only leaned back enough to look each other in the eye.

Archie distantly wondered if he looked as happily gobsmacked as Ruby did. He suspected he probably did.

"Merry Christmas, Archie."

Her breath ghosted over his lips and he smiled as he leaned closer.

"Merry Christmas, Ruby."

.o.O.o.O.o.


End file.
